More fun in Utah before heading home

We got back from Idaho on Saturday around 2. We met Karan for breakfast that morning in Idaho Falls at Smittys Pancake House, which was really good (their pecan pancakes, which I had, were amazing). Then we made the drive back and Kate actually slept for most of it (yay! She's getting so much better in the car). My dad and I then went on a walk with Kate over to Good Earth, where we got her some organic baby food sweet potatoes with cinnamon. She loved it, of course; anything with sweet potatoes is good with her!

Saturday night we hung out at home and watched the Badgers beat Ohio State; my mom and I are so not into football at all, but it was such an exciting game, and we were so happy "our" team beat the #1 team in the country. Kate was so cute; she would cheer and kind of clap when we did. Funny girl!

On Sunday, I had lunch at Angie's house; it was so fun to see her again. She looks so cute pregnant, and I think it's so fun that our girls will be exactly a year apart (she's due in February, obviously). That night, my dad made a delicious dinner (as always) with French onion soup, pork loin, etc. We then took some pictures of Kate with her grandparents, since we had to leave at (ugh) 4:30 in the morning on Monday.


By Frankenstein's monster


Silly!






Great picture of the three (four, if you count Frankenstein's monster) of them!


By the Halloween tree


Cute!








Nana and Grandpa with their two "babies"


So proud of her pumpkin


Three generations




Hanging out with Jerome La Fantome at Nana's.

Heading to Idaho

While we were in Utah, we made a brief detour to Idaho to visit Karan and Belinda (and Belinda's daughter Jessica and her son Lex, our ring bearer). We ate at the Sandpiper in Idaho Falls, which is hands down one of our favorite restaurants. We also did a day trip over to Jackson, which was a lot of fun. Kate has now been to the following states: Wisconsin (obviously), Illinois, Minnesota, Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado and Texas (the last two are airport-only, which Dan says doesn't count. Bah). She's quite the little traveler for being only 8 months!

In an "antique" highchair at Belinda's. It's so funny how the safety standards have changed so much; there was no barrier or anything to keep babies from sliding through, so we tied a scarf around her waist to keep her safe (and of course we were right there eating breakfast). She loved it, though; we need to buy her a (modern, of course) highchair sometime soon.




With auntie Belinda at Sweetwater Cafe in Jackson.


Silly girl!


Everything I give her to play with goes right. in. the. mouth.


Kate with Mama and "aunts" Belinda and Karan in the Jackson town square.


So happy to be hanging out with Nana.


On Belinda's couch.




Hey, my boot is falling off!

Our Trip to Utah

Kate and I had so much fun visiting Utah! Of course my parents were thrilled to see her, and it was fun to see Nancy and Angie, too.

We got in Tuesday night and went to our favorite place (the Spaghetti Factory), which was so good. My mom and Nancy picked us up, so it was fun to go to dinner with them. On Wednesday, my dad took the afternoon off of work and took the three of us "girls" (my mom, me, and Kate) to lunch at Rickenbacker's. It was so good, like always, although our waiter was a little "off" and very slow service-wise, but it was still fun. Then we went to the pumpkin patch that Austin and I always went to when we were little, and Kate got her very own little pumpkin from Nana and Grandpa.

Nancy came over for dinner Wednesday night, and my dad made this delicious shrimp scampi with alfredo sauce. So good!


Mama and Kate at the pumpkin patch; I LOVE this photo of us.


Look what a good stander!


That's a huge pumpkin.


With Nana and Grandpa


I think this is a great shot of the three of them. Kate certainly has her grandparents wrapped around her little finger!


Kate trying to get a look at the TV, since we never let her watch!


With her pumpkin from Nana and Grandpa; I think I had just changed her, which is why her outfit is all weird.


This pumpkin is my size!


My mom always sets a gorgeous table.


I love my aunt Nancy, but that flash is so bright!

A beautiful weekend

This weekend was absolutely gorgeous out. It was in the 80s (yes, in Wisconsin in October!) and sunny; the perfect weekend to be outside. On Saturday, we went for a walk on the Glacial Drumlin State Trail, and it was so nice to see all the leaves changing colors.

On Sunday, we went to the zoo; Kate's first time. She loved seeing all the animals, but I think she liked seeing the other babies and kids even more! We saw the giraffes, rhinos, polar bears and tigers (it was so cool; the tiger came up to us and rubbed up against the glass, just like Maxine rubs up against our legs, and Kate looked at it like, "Huh, you look like a bigger version of my cat at home." Not quite, honey!) We also saw a bunch of snakes (which I'm oddly fascinated by, despite being terrified of them) and the tropical birds in the "rainforest." Kate waved good-bye to the birds (that's her new thing; waving "hi" and "bye"), which was cute. We only stayed there for a couple hours (have to scale things down with a baby, you know!) before going to eat at The Laurel, which I love.


Look at that cute little polar bear!




Hmmm, there looks like quite a size difference between Dan and Kate and the typical adult/child polar bear combo.


That's a huge turtle (or tortoise; obviously I wasn't paying as much attention as I should in the herpatarium).



Monday was another beautiful day, so Kate & I went to Book Baby, and then played in the park in the afternoon.


On the way to the park; I love how red the leaves are!


Mama, I am mad you stopped pushing me, so no, I won't smile.


Oh, hey, what's that? A car? Interesting...


Anyway, what was I saying? Oh yeah...


I will not smile until you start pushing me again.

Dan's Birthday

Today is Dan's 29th birthday; wow! Kate and I drove to Middleton today to take him out to lunch at Sprecher's. I had the sauerbraten and spatezle (so good!) and Dan had the ribs. Kate was remarkably well-behaved; she sat in her bucket or on our laps and just cooed and smiled. Whew!


It was absolutely gorgeous out today, so we were thrilled to eat outside.






Playing blocks with Daddy after he got home from work. I had her wear her "My heart belongs to Daddy" onesie since it was so nice today, and it was his birthday; it seemed appropriate. ;)